The Postmare
by Colt in the Moon
Summary: In the year 2013, civilization has all but destroyed itself. After a coup and following war that killed both princesses, most of the population of the Equestria, ponies struggle to survive against starvation and the New Lunar Republic Army.
1. Chapter 1

**THE POSTMARE**

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><p><em>"WPNY AM Talk Radio. All talk, all the time. Bringing you sports and weather on the five. Church leaders blame the rise of hate crimes and racially motivated attacks on a militia like group calling themselves "The New Lunar Republic" One of the most powerful and powerful of these groups... (static) claims as its idea to usurp Celestia and place Luna on the throne."<em>

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><p>(<em>Voiceover by a mare<em>)

"Canterlot fell when my mother was still a filly. The New Lunar Army marching in and both princesses winding up dead. She used to tell me stories of the plagues that followed, and how the living hid themselves, scattered in tiny hamlets in hope of surviving whatever new madness conspired to rob them of what little remained.

In those days, the only company she kept was her muffin. The two of them standing witness to the chaos that reigned. Equestria herself had fallen victim to the insanity.

She told stories of the 3-year winter, and how the dirty snow never stopped falling. She saw the ocean, barren, poisoned, near death. And how everypony watched the sky for 16 long years praying for the great lungs to start working again.

When it finally did, she said it was if the ocean had breathed a great sigh of relief."

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><p><strong>Chapter One<strong>

Ditzy trotted weakly across the wasteland that had been Eastern Equestria. Her mouth was dry, her tounge cracked. If she didn't get water soon, it wouldn't matter anymore. Her saddlebag are packed to the brim with a gun and ammunition, and some supplies to test water for radiation.

On her back, somehow remaining balanced is a decades old muffin, dried and stale from the exposure to the elements. Ditzy soon finds the sky going dark. She looks up. It's a billboard. "Welcome to the Great Salt Lick Marina," she reads.

It is a bizarre, wind-swept sight. Dozens of boats resting on the dry, cracked earth. It's like Celestia had pulled the plug to the lake, letting the water drain out. Rusty mooring chains snake their way around house boats, ski boats and a cabin cruiser or two.

A rumble of thunder sounds in the distance. Rain begins to fall. It slaps into her flank like miniature bullets. The earth just sucks it up at first, but it's coming hard. Rivulets run. Puddles form. Soon these boats will be tugging at the mooring chains once again.

She needed to get out of the lakebed.

"Come on Muffin!" Derpy yells. She begins a gallop, her hooves quickly becoming muddied. The muffin is not the worse for wear. It wa not the first time it was out in the rain.

Up ahead, was a faded wooden road plank. It was nearly knocked over and looked like it would fall to the ground any minute. "O thank Celestia," Ditzy exclaimed. "A sign. Finally we can figure out where we are."

The faded plank reads: E.S. 84 North. It was no place Ditzy had heard of. "Muffin, do you know what E.S 84 North is?"

Ditzy decides to fallow the road. Weeds poke up through the asphalt. The rusting hulks of a carraiges rest in the middle, covered in a tangle of purple wisteria. Ditzy picks a flower and put it in the saddlebag with a smile.

The muffin finally loses its balance and falls to the ground.

"Muffin!" Ditzy yells. She gingerly picks it up and brushes the majority of the dirt away with her hoof. She puts the muffin into her saddlebag. "Bad Muffin. For that you stay in my saddlebag."

The sky suddenly darkens. Ditzy looks up to see a huge billboard looming into the sky. The setting sun sinking behind it causing its shadow to cast Ditzy and her muffin into shadow. It would be a perfect vantage point to look for any signs of civilization, and hopefully a place to stay during the night.

On top of the billboard, Ditzy looks out from her place on the catwalk. Below, the highway stretch in either direction, both covered with weeds. Ditzy take out her binoculars, and spies an old mile marker sign.

Through her binoculars she could even read it from her spot on the billboard. The nearest town was Tenneighsee... 20 miles. That was a bit too far. There was no way they would be able to make it there by nightfall. Ditzy scans the road with the binoculars. She hits paydirt.

Off to the west a little were the remains of a Brony Pegasister Feeding station only a mile or so distant. Ditzy climbs down and makes her way over. Alert and carbine in hand, she tows her muffin on her back once again. At the feeding station rotting carriages sagged on termite laden wheels . There was also a stripped fire engine, its cracked hoses leading to the BP's foundation which bristles with burned timbers.

Ditzy rushes to an upright bucket, and almost starts drinking before she's able to swat herself away.

"Dammit Derpy, you know I need to check it first!"

She hangs her head to the ground and rummages through her saddlebags. She removes an old Tupperware container and replaces its contents - a tiny sheaf of litmus papers and several bottles - with some water from the bucket. She adds a few drops from each bottle and swirls it around. Then dips a tiny strip of paper into the water. The paper turns a vivid purple. Derpy is dubious. She turns to her reflection in the water.

"Well, it's better than turpentine." She dips a hoof in and touches it to her lips. "Tastes about the same. Your call, Derpy." Ditzy decides to drink the water. "You ain't picky, Derpy. I like that about you." Ditzy says ruffling her own mane.

Ditzy takes her carbine and a burlap sack and trots over to the Feeding Station. An old extension ladder lays rusted on the ground. The pole holding up the logo has a 30-degree bend in it, like somepony once tried to pull it over. Beyond the logo, the sun sets in a fiery blaze of rainbow-like colors.

She tries the station door. Locked. "Buck!" she yells. Then she glances next to the door. The window had been busted in. She facehoofed. Smiling ironically, she steps in through the blown-out window. She puts Muffin on a counter, shoving everything that was on it to the floor.

The station is in shambles. Ditzy picks around the stuff on the other counters. She finds a few beat-up CDs and flips through them, reading the labels. " 'Classic Vinyl: Running on Empty'? Tell me about it." She finds an old TV guide from a goof twenty years earlier.

She tosses it aside. She turns, and stops. There, resting on a pile of trash is a bashed-in portable TV. Ditzy smiles, plopping down on a couch.

"Hey Muffin!" she yells. "We got TV! 147 channels." She flips through the pages trying to find the day and time. "We might even be able to watch Jeopony."

She steps over, and switches on the set. Nothing happens, but she pretends just the same. She mimics static, then:

"Like sands through the hour-glass, so are the days of our lives...' (switching channels) 'Michelle Saddle, come on down, you're the next contestant on ...'The Price is Right'.' (switching channels again) 'I'll take Civil Uprisings for two hundred thousand, Alex..."

Ditzy stops suddenly. Click. "We interrupt our regularly scheduled program to bring you breaking news about the Second Equestrian Civil War..."

Ditzy stares at the blank screen a moment. The war suddenly flooding back into her head. The New Lunar Republic. The execution of Celestia and the sacrifice made in vain by Luna to protect her. The entire city of Canterlot had burnt after that. She could still hear the screams.

A sudden, panicked rustling from behind the service manager's desk is the only thing that saves her. Derpy wheels around, raising her carbine.

"Look, I don't want no trouble... I bet you don't either... Let's just call it a draw, okay?"

More movement. Ditzy shouts in suprise as a white rabbit dashes out from behind the desk. Scared, it bounds back and forth between the walls. Sighing in relief, she lowers her carbine. The rabbit stands frozen in the corner, and then bolts for the door, and Muffin.

"Look out Muffin!" Ditzy yells.

The rabbit sniffs the muffin, but Ditzy sends it flying outside with a well-placed kick.

Investigating further, Ditzy finds an old muffin machine. The front glass is smashed and all the slots are empty. But she looks down to the lock at the bottom. It's intact. Ditzy pulls a crowbar from her saddle bags and digs the pry into a seam and pulls.

The panel burst open, revealing four packaged muffins. Ditzy doesn't believe it for a second. Then: "We're rich."


	2. Chapter 2

**-Chapter 2-**

The muffins only would last them so long however, and the next morning Ditzy started making her way to Tenneighsee.

Tenneighsee was nestled snugly in a small valley next to a little creek. Ditzy sat on a rock on the edge of the valley, holding Muffin in her hooves, staring down at him. "It's true, we haven't done this in a while, but it's like riding a bicycle. Now be still."

She eyes him carefully "Awful, just awful," Ditzy replies, going to work with a tiny toothpick, picking out as much dirt as she can. When she's done, she grins. "There, all better."

"I know the rule. It's my rule! Avoid civilazation at all costs. But we gotta eat, don't we?"

The muffin remained silent.

"What are you so worried about? All you gotta do is stand there. I'm the pony with all the lines."

Ditzy carefully manuvered herself and her bmuffin down towards the town far below. An old worn-out sign said, "Welcome to Tenneighsee." Pop. 4500. The 4500 had been crossed out, along with a dozen other numbers, each of a lower value until it numbered less than 200 ponies.

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><p>In the center of the square fifty townsponies stand before a plank stage where Ditzy wraps up a performance of Marebeth. She plays it with a mis-remembered gusto the people enjoy. Foals especially are enamored. A heavily-muscled stallion, Big Macintosh, lingers on the fringe of the crowd - watching her with inscrutable intensity.<p>

"They said, 'Fear Not Marebeth, til Burnt Muffin comes to Dunsinane'!"

She looks offstage for somepony, but no one appears.

"I said, 'til Burnt Muffin comes to Dunsinane!"

She goes off stage and puts Muffin on the stage. Covered in charcoal, he's made up to look like Burnt Muffin. It just sits there, doing nothing, causing the audience to laugh in delight. The foals stomp their hooves. Only Big Macintosh seems unaffected.

She grabs a pair of wooden swords, smiling. Its going well.

"Arm, arm yourselves! If the witch's words are true, there'll be no running or hiding here!"

Ditzy dusts off the charcoal, and sticks a wooden sword into the muffin. Ditzy dashes back and forth around the muffin pretending to fight off an imaginary attack. Finally, Ditzy looks out at the audience, remembering the final words as best she could.

_"To-morrow, and to-morrow, and to-morrow,_  
><em>Creeps in this petty pace from day to day,<em>  
><em>To end of time;<em>  
><em>And all our yesterdays have lighted fools to their death.<em>

_Out, out, brief candle!_  
><em>Life's but a trotting shadow. A poor pony,<em>  
><em>That struts and frets his time upon the stage,<em>  
><em>And then is heard no more. It is a tale<em>  
><em>Told by an idiot, full of sounds and furries,<em>  
><em>Signifying nothing."<em>

Ditzy raises her sword triumphantly, her voice straining at the heavens.

_"But blow wind! Come wrack! At least we'll die with the harness off our back!"_

The audience erupts in applause. But Big Macintosh stands still as stone. Ditzy takes a bow. She pushes Muffin onto its side, imitating a bow. Knowing when to quit, she trots off the stage to many hearty hoofshakes and a good meal.

Big Mactinosh watches her every move. Mrs. Lee, one of the town's leaders, steps up. She's accompanied by crotchety old dusty brown horse called Curmudgeon.

"The children have never seen shakeshoof before." Mrs. Lee says happily.

Ditzy grins, "They still haven't."

Curmudgeon is still applauding.

"Thanks," Ditzy says, "You're very nice."

Curmudgeon's look turns sour. "I'm applauding because you stink."

"I don't think you understand how it works." Ditzy says, getting slightly ticked off.

"Oh I get it," Curmudgeon replied. "When I was young, I tried to be an actor. I was awful. But now I won't die thinking I was the worst one."

Ditzy's look becomes even more sour. "Glad I could help."

Mrs. Lees pushes Curmudgeon away. "Curmudgeon, stop it." She turns back to Ditzy. "You were very good."

"Really?"

Before she can answer, a sentry bell starts to ring. A sentry-pony runs forward. "Lunists! Lunists are coming!"

All eyes look down the road leading iinto town. A raiding party of Lunist Calvary are on their way in. Mrs. Lee sees Ditzy's concern. "It's okay. We give them food and supplies. All the towns do."

"They hardly kill anypony lately," Curmudgeon adds. "Just take a few ponies every now and then."

"Well, I'd just as soon not give them anything of mine. Let's find the back door Muffin."

Ditzy gathers their stuff, puts on her saddlebags and places Muffin on her back. The forty Lunists in orange and black uniforms ride in. They're armed with mostly pistols and rifles. Some carry bows, knives, spear guns and swords. On their bare flanks, branded into the flesh over their cutie marks - the crescent moon. The symbol of the New Lunar Republican Army.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

Out front, always leading by example was General Discord. Tough, smart, merciless with style. Commander of the United Clans of Luna. Nothing escapes his eye.

A little behind him is the mysteriously silent Colonel Gettyup, second in command.

Derpy, finished packing, begins to move from building to building - careful not to attract any attention.

In the town center foals who had been playing moments earlier stand uneasily in front of Discord.

"What are you doing there?" Discord commands.

Derpy freezes, stock still. She turns slowly, and is relived to find Discord's not talking to her at all. Discord looks down to the foals.

The foals stare at their feet.

"I said, what are you doing?" Discord asks a second time, adding a "kindly" smile to his now gentler tone.

Derpy continues her surreptitious escape. The mayor gallops forward to greet Discord. "It's just a gam, General Discord. Something they saw in a play. No harm in it."

"A play?" Discord says. He turns to the foals. "Show me. It's all right children, show me."

A brave colt finds his voice, barely. "Arm, Arm yourselves! No running from the witches!"

Discord looks suprised. "Shakeshoof, is it? Well, I'm sorry I missed it."

The foals run off to their mothers.

"You should know, sir, we haven't nearly stocked the grain we thought we would." The mayor pleads.

Discord looks down on the mayor. "Really? but you had time for a play?"

Head down, Derpy and Bill make for "the back way." But it's guarded by three daunting Lunist soldiers. It would be impossible to get by them. Derpy does a quick 180, and starts heading back the way they came.

Discord looks at the frightened townsfolk. "I'm taking three conscripts from each town. They will have the honor of serving in the New Lunar Republic Army until such time as I see fit."

He looks to the mayor. "Three ponies. You suppose you could do that?"

The mayor nods in acquiescence. Discord looks to an officer. The officer, Idaho, steps up and addresses the town.

"All ponies of suitable age and ethnic foundation are required to show themselves now."

The Lunists spread out, prodding any likely or unwilling candidates forward. Derpy is now walking behind Discord. Some of the townspeople cast her and Bill a furtive glance as they make their way toward the open courtyard and ultimately, the gate out of town.

Three conscripts are hustled before Discord. He looks over the first- Big Macintosh. Discord smells him. Not much of a decision there. "Acceptable."

"Sir?" Idaho asks in semi-protest.

"Acceptable, Captain!" Discord said, ending the argument then and there. Nopony in the Lunist army dared challenged Discord's leadership.

The second- a thin colt with blue horseshoes on his flank. Discord feels his forehoof, and turns the colt's head from side to side.

"You'll need to put soome meat on, but I like an impressionable mind. Acceptable."

The third- an innocuous pony, or so we think. Discord stares hard at the pony's olive coat, and traces a hoof over the bump in the pony's muzzle. "Cervidae. Unacceptable."

Soldiers shove the pony back into the crowd. The brave colt from before, who had been playing allows himself a tiny smile when he sees that Derpy and bill might make it.

"I want pure blood. Somepony like..."

Discord notes the colt, and turns to see the object of his attention, finally spotting Derpy and Bill leaving out the front gate.

"That horse" He bellows.

Idaho and another soldier are quickly on it, galloping toward her and Bill. Derpy backs away as the two come toward him.

"You don't understand..."

But Idaho and the soldier aren't programed for explanations. They grab ahold of her.

"You were required to show yourself." Idaho says firmly.

"But, I'm not with these ponies. I'm just passing through. I-"

Idaho silences her with a hoof to the head. As everything fades out of focus, she hears Idaho say. "Take the mule as well."


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

Derpy woke up next to Bill. They were being led behind a much larger group of ponies, most likely all of them conscripts.

Derpy looked around. Mountains stretched into the sky. Up ahead piles of dirt blocked the view further.

Soon enough, however, these piles of dirt were behind them, revealing an open pit mine. Along the road an occassional skeleton of a dog could be seen.

Derpy and the rest of the ponies were led down a small enclosure.

"Tenhut!" Captain Idaho yelled. Derpy and the the rest of the captured ponies were forced to make a line.

General Discord galloped into the enclousure behind him, sprayed dust and dirt into the air when he stopped. "Welcome, ponies, to your new life." His voice was unwavering, like he had said this hundreds of times before. "You have been born again as soldiers in the army of the New Lunar Republic. The strong have been sapped by the whimpering propaganda of the weak. Horses, strong horses, have been denied their destiny. You ponies have been saved from that fate. Redemption is within your grasp."

He trots down the line looking the ponies over. He stops at Big Macintosh. "You. What did you do before you were given this opportunity?"

"I worked on an apple orchard. I bucked appletrees."

General Dicord regarded him benevolently. "You bucked appletrees... Well, now you're going to fill them." Discord turns to Derpy. "And you?"

"Me?" she asks.

"Is there any question in anypony's mind that I was talking to you? Yes, you."

Discord trots up and eyes Derpy carefully. "You look like a dangerous pony, Are you?"

Derpy inches back frightfully, she doesn't want to get in a fight. "I'm just a performer. Shakeshoof. Stuff like that."

"Shakeshoof?" Discord says in suprise. He smiles.

"He was a playpony. He-" Derpy tries to explain.

"I know who Shakeshoof was..." Discord says. Suddenly his voice resounds across the open pit mine. "Cry "Havoc!" and let slip the dogs of war.'"

Colonel Gettyup begins to stamp his hooves in applause, closely followed by the rest of the soldiers.

Discord looks to Derpy expectantly.

"I, um, you want a line?" she says shyly.

Discord nods. Derpy thinks for a moment. "To be or not to be: That is the question."

Discord smiles and turns to look at his army as if to say, "Is this all this guy's got?" Discord eyes Derpy. He wants a contest. Once again his voice echoes throughout the mine. "We few, we happy few, we band of brothers!"

The soldiers applaude, they know their general will win.

Derpy thinks for a moment, and gains confidence. "A horse! A horse! My kingdom for a horse!"

The soldiers begin to laugh, but Discord stops them. "No,No. She's actually quite good."

Discord stands inches away from her, looking right into her eyes. "You're also a fighter. I can see it in your eyes." Derpy doesn't answer. Hestitant, she doesn't want to get into any more trouble than she's already in.

"Don't you agree? Come now, a pony's got to speak their mind."

Discord sound sincere. He seems like a good guy.

"I don't mean any disrepect, sir, but you'd be better off just letting me and my brother go. A fight is the last thing I am."

Derpy doubles over as Discord hooks a hoof into her gut. Discord clubs her on the head, dropping her to her knees, then digs a hoof into her side. Derpy goes down.

"Don't you think I should be the judge of that, soldier?"

Derpy gasps to catch her breath.

"Get up!" Discord barks, "I said, get up."

Derpy staggers to her hooves. Blood trickles from her nose as she stares across at Discord.

"Put up your hooves." Discord orders.

"You'd win." she says.

Discord looks to Gettyup. CLICK. Gettyup shoves a pistol into Derpy's ear. Derpy reluctantly raises her hooves. Discord gives her a satified nod. "Now fight," he orders.

Derpy takes a tentative step forward. Discord drives her back with a flurry of blows. Derpy is dazed, nearly out on his feet. Discord holds him up. "You're right. You're not a fighter. but you will be. I'm giving you a chance at a life that _means_ something. A life worth living."

That said, Discord delivers one last blow to Derpy's face. Her vision goes cross-eyed and everything fades to black.

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><p><strong>(AN: What? Did you think Derpy was wall-eyed all this time? Well, she wasn't. Discord's hit did that to her.)**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Okay, if you seen the movie, you known we'd reach this part eventually. This chapter contains fictional ponies getting killed. **

**Don't say I didn't warn ya.**

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><p><strong>Chapter 5<strong>

Derpy finally comes too, back in the enclosure. She's on the ground. She licks her dry, blood-caked lips. A sudden movement startles her- it's Big Macintosh, shoving her a battered cup of water. It's like he's been keeping watch. She's suprised, a little suspicious, and very grateful as she gulps the water down. She looks around, Bill is nowhere to be seen.

"Where's my brother? Have you seen him?"

Big Macintosh shakes his head.

"Did I win?" Derpy asks.

Again Woody shakes his head.

"I tried to tell him..."

"Say it again." Big Mac asks him.

"Say what?"

"The words you said in town. About the wind blowing and the rest... Say it again."

Derpy thought back recalling the words. "Blow, wind. Come wrack. At least we'll die with the harness off our back?"

"What's it mean?" Big Mac asks.

"Live free, or die, I guess."

Idaho's voice suddenly echoes over them and the entire enclosure. "You can sleep or watch a movie. Tomorrow we run. Twenty miles, with full saddlebags, in three hours. Everypony makes it. Or nopony eats."

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><p><em>The next day:<em>

Derpy and the rest of the recruits trot briskly along the rim of the open pit mine. As they pass next to the kitchen, a few turned to look at the food being prepared. _SLUNK_! went a butcher's knife through a hunk of meat, severing a limb. The butcher tossed it into the boiling pot of water that was nearby. Then they moved on.

Two small ponies, stunted in growth, tried desperately to keep pace, and failing to do so. Derpy had seen both of their cutie marks and still had no idea why a pony would have scissors or a snail as one.

Derpy breifly looked back. The short chubby one was way behind, their was no way he would be able to catch up now. A Lunist soldier galloped past her, and she quickly turned her head forward.

A shot rang out into the air, and she didn't dare look back at the brutal truth she knew.

At the other side of the mine they finally reached the finish line, back where they had started. Derpy and the rest fell weakly to the ground, baked by the harsh glare of Celestia's sun.

The last pony, one with a snail on his flank as his cutie mark, stumbled exhausted past Idaho.

"Alright, up at 'em my little ponies. Dinner time. You all get a treat. Meat tonight."

The ponies quickly scramble into line. The cook pony dumps gray slop into the tin bowls that were part of their gear in their saddlebags. Behind Derpy is Snails, the pony who made it back last.

Derpy holds out her bowl, but Idaho puts out a hoof, blocking her. Idaho turns to the cook. "Why don't you tell Shakeshoof over here, what kind of meat that is."

The cook looks up, emotionless. "Mule," he says, dumping gray slop into her bowl.

Derpy's stomach churned, and she tasted bile. Luckily her stomach was empty; so she didn't vomit. They cooked up her brother- and there was nothing she could do about it. If she tried anything, she'd wind up just as dead as he was.

"Mule," Idaho said curtly. "A godawful animal. Sterile offspring of a horse and a donkey. Can you imagine that? There's no room in this new world for a bastard like that."

It was all Derpy could do to not punch Idaho in the face then and there. She trots off wearily to the stable, and just sits there, trying not to think about the bowl of gray slop that a few days ago used to be her brother.

Snails holds out his bowl, but the cook doesn't move to fill it.

Idaho smiles wickedly. "Uh uh." He raises his voice loudly so all the recruits can hear. "Anypony last in line ain't hungry enough. You show up last, you don't eat."

Snails steps away in disbelief, in the stable, he angrily kicks over a bucket filled with urine and feces. "I'll die before I'm last in line again." His voice is frail and weak, like it would break at the slightest gust of wind.

"That's what they're hoping for." A pony says.

"Well at least you're eating!" Snails yells back in a rage. The other pony doesn't reply.

Derpy can't stand the sight of the gray mush anymore and holds the bowl with an outstretched hoof.

Snails turns and sees Derpy's outstretched hoof. Gingerly, he takes the bowl. "Serious?"

Derpy doesn't say anything. It's all she can do to keep from vomiting.

Snails digs his hooves into the grey mush greedily, not even bothering to use the provided spoon. He sticks his mush covered hooves into his mouth and beams. "This ain't bad."

He slurps his hooves. "This ain't bad," he repeats.

Lost in despair, Derpy stares out at the dreary palette.


End file.
